Chuma Okeke has been taking a crash course in college basketball as true freshman.

Though he comes off the bench, the former top 50 recruit averages 20 minutes per game for No. 8 Auburn (21-2, 9-1 SEC) as part of Bruce Pearl's nine-man rotation and produce on both ends of the court, though his diverse offensive skills have translated more quickly to the college level than his defense.

Okeke is averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds and is shooting a team-best 43.9 percent (25 of 57) from 3-point range. To put those figures in perspective, Okeke is tied for third on the team in rebounding this season but is averaging more than Austin Wiley (4.7 rpg.) did last season.

"Every team is good here; all the players are bigger and stronger," Okeke said of the difference from playing in high school. "They're all on top of their game. So I just feel like you've just got to work hard every day to compete in the SEC."

His ability to shoot from outside as a stretch four enables Auburn's guards to get better looks and frees up the lane, as opponents can't overload on Bryce Brown, Mustapha Heron or Jared Harper.

"His role coming off the bench for us is big, and he continues to improve every game," Brown said. "I see him get better every game, with his 3-point shot and just doing everything for us."

Where Okeke has struggled at times has been at defending. Smaller and more agile guards, like Vanderbilt's Riley LaChance, can blow past him and bigger traditional forwards have a size advantage on his 6-foot-8, 230-pound frame.

LaChance scored 13 points against the Tigers, with most of his drives to the hoop going past Okeke, who admitted he didn't think he'd have the matchup as much as he did on Saturday.

"We were running a lot of different actions, trying to get some switches and we were putting a shooter in those actions," Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said, "hopefully making them make a decision which guy they were going to guard. Bruce does a great job so he was mixing things up and going back and forth so we were trying to go back and forth with our matchups too."

Okeke said he's had to learn how to be an aggressive defender without fouling.

Though he has just three games with four fouls, including fouling out against Tennessee, he went from overeager and picking up four fouls while guarding Georgia's Yante Maten to more timid on that end of the floor the past few games.

"I think it's all a mind thing," Okeke said. "If you can feel like you can lock in and play defense, you'll do that."

Okeke's plus-minus rating as of late illustrates his learning curve. He was just plus-one in Saturday's 93-81 win over Vanderbilt and minus-five in last week's 79-70 win at Ole Miss but was plus-14 against LSU, plus-eight against Missouri and plus-29 in just 15 minutes against Georgia.

Pearl feels Okeke is "underrated" as a defender and has the ability to move well enough laterally to keep guards in front of him.

"I know LaChance may have gone by him a couple of times, but I really didn't mind the matchup when you got a guy like Chuma, that can really truly move his feet on the perimeter and he's got the size to be able to guard inside," Pearl said. "I think he went through a stretch against a couple of teams with some real size where he got to holding and grabbing and got himself in some foul trouble and that probably became a little bit of a frustration.

"But he's a really versatile defender, just as versatile as you see him offensively, where he can shoot it, put it on the floor and do a few things, a good passer, he's really versatile defensively too. He's a strength for us."

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.